One type of earplug, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,794, includes a body in the form of a shell of elastomeric foam material, and a stem of more rigid material than the body, the stem extending through a passage formed by the shell. To insert the front portion of the earplug into the ear canal, the stem is pushed forward to thereby push the body forward. However, to withdraw the earplug, a person must grasp the rear of the body itself and pull it out. Applicant presently makes an earplug of the general type described in the above patent, which has a relatively high noise-blocking ability of SNR28 (European noise rating system) and NRR26 (ANSI or American National Standards Institute), with an attenuation of 26.3 db at 125 Hz. It would be desirable if the entire earplug could be more readily removed, especially in applications where the earplug lies at the end of a band that extends about halfway around the ear canal, so that separation of the ends of the bands results in the earplugs being pulled out of the ear canals of a person. Any simple change which increased noise-blocking ability would be desirable.